A Policy Initiative

            Educators who collaborated with the Social Media Literacy Program in its development and early implementation did so in the hopes of finding a role for Social Media in the classroom. At Medford High School, teachers wanted to know how it can help them do their job better and this influence is what lead to evaluations as both a curricular enhancement and focus. Along with the Beth Phillips sample curriculum, this information is enough to guide any high school's effort to use Social Media in an academic context. With these practical ideas now complete, the new incentive for my internship is to direct analysis away from classroom application and towards broader policy initiatives.

             

            To have a complete perspective, policy analysis must focus not only on Medford High School but on all schools in the district. The related rules and regulations are drafted and approved by the Medford School Committee and those that are currently in place do not account for Social Media use in all the ways it affects campus life from kindergarten through 12th grade. The novelty of our current situation, where Social Media use is considered a serious topic, could not have been foreseen by previous policy initiatives because its prevalence in schools was not obvious. In the brief existence of the SMLP, analysis has uncovered major activity, both positive and negative, that will come to be a responsibility.

            

            Currently, the primary documents which mandate student behavior are the school handbooks. The comprehensive policies contained within them are what students agree to abide by as well as what faculty members are responsible for overseeing. While Social Media use can be related to a number of topics within handbook purview, the most significant is the Acceptable Use Policy. No mention of Social Media is made in any of the student handbooks but current policies, if applied in earnest, would contradict initiatives that attempt to pragmatically use Social Media.

            

            The specifics of this are what will now be the topic of future blog posts and activity in the SMLP. Previous research in addition to meetings with students and school leaders both in and out of Medford will inform a final presentation to be conducted at a future school committee meeting. An emphasis will be made on enacting policy that, instead of relying on constricting rules, will facilitate a dialogue. Experience up until now has shown that enhancing the student-teacher relationship with Social Media creates novel situations that old methodology is not prepared to deal with. Moving towards an equitable policy that promotes collaboration with hopes of fostering innovation will be heavily influenced by the SMLP's NEST Criteria, which is based in adaptive evaluation rather than restrictive regulation.

            

            Along with the in-class curricular role of Social Media, whatever policy is enacted will represent the tangible contribution of this internship and the SMLP. Any advice for acting in this legislative process would be greatly appreciated and your comments can be left below.

Suggested Reading: For those who’d like to know the major influencers behind my policy initiative, the most significant person, who I do not know in real life, is Linda Darling-Hammond. Her 2010 book The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Education Will Determine Our Future is a big reason why I’m more excited the SMLP will pursue a policy initiative, instead of a sample curriculum. There is greater potential.